Spreading some love at the nursing home

We usually go to the nursing home each month with the other moms/kids from our community group at church. We've been to visit, to play bingo, easter egg hunting, etc.

Then afterwards, we hit Chik-Fil-A to let the kiddos run off all the energy they were keeping inside while trying to be polite and sweet.... :)



Each time we go, Zac and I talk about what it will be like and we pray for our visit - mostly that our visit will be a blessing to the residents - and that Zac won't feel nervous.

I can see how it would be a little scary for a young child. There are a good handful of residents that we are not able to interact with. Some are asleep in their chairs. Some make noises that are unusual to the kids. On one visit, a lady kept crying when she talked... especially when telling us about her own children and grandchildren. And there was one occasion where there was a resident who was clearly NOT excited about our visit.

But - EACH time we go, I leave with a heart bursting with pride and thankfulness for my sweet little boy.

He is SOOOOOO sweet to the residents! I honestly don't know what, if anything, he gets out of these visits. But he is such a blessing to them. We walk around together and say hi to everyone. He gives high-fives and shakes hands, and he gives hugs to ANYone who looks like they might need one. It is absolutely precious.


I usually don't bring my camera. But I really wanted to document some of these moments. The focus is off because I was trying to be a quick and subtle, but oh well! :)



The nursing home that we visit is really good to us. They usually have some sort of something for the kids (treats, games, etc). So this time, we decided to have a craft playdate ahead of time and make them some table decorations.


The kids worked very hard on these tissue paper flowers and sticker-covered "vases."



On the visit today, Zac had a really cool Dallas Cowboys hat on. He rarely insists on an outfit, but for some reason had this one totally planned for today. And the Cowboys hat really gave some of the residents a great way to interact with him - especially the man who was also wearing a Cowboys hat!










This resident "stole" ZZ's hat and put it on to be funny. Zac gave her a great reaction and she seemed to have fun making him giggle. :)




Here are the 3 oldest kiddos in the group. They are all about to turn 5!! (too fast!) We are incredibly blessed to have such sweet friends for Zac - and they have great parents for Brian and I to hang with! :)